Between the Timeskip
by Slackman77
Summary: A fanfiction of what happened between chapters 44 and 45 of Nio Nakatani's manga "Bloom into You"
1. The Day After

"Where should we go today?" I ask my girlfriend while blushing as the memories of the night come rushing back into memory. Touko rises out of bed also blushing looking out the window, deep in thought she turns to look at me still flustered and grabs my hand and says "I don't care, as long as I'm with you. Yuu I love you". I dont hesitate and say "I love you too Touko". Touko's eyes widen as I say that and stutters "Did... did you just say my name without any honorifics?". I didn't notice it at the time but after last night I guess I was comfortable with calling the person I love just by her name, as she means much more too me now than a senpai. "Yeah I did, is that ok?". Touko replies straight away "Of course it is! I've been wanting you to call me by my first name without senpai for a while now". Touko, still holding my hand squeezes it and leans in and kisses me. I close my eyes still amazed that my heart still races everytime she kisses me. After the kiss, Touko gets out of bed and stretches, then realising that she was still naked, looked at me embarrassed and quickly put on her dressing gown. I didn't know what my facial expression was at this time as Touko looks at me with a sly smile and says "What? Are you disappointed that I'm covered up? You're such a perve Yuu". I abruptly reply "Stop calling me that! Besides it's normal for me to like seeing you naked isn't it?" While Touko was getting flustered again with that question, I use this opportunity to get out of bed and stretch in front of her before getting my gown on. I look at Touko and she was staring at me in bewilderment. "Who's the perve now?" Touko, her face ready to explode just smiles at me and grabs my hand and leads me out into the kitchen, my eyes drift towards the leftover cheesecake. Thinking about food made my stomach grumble and Touko laughed and asked if we should have the cheesecake for breakfast. I obviously agreed so we both sat down at the table and ate our sweet breakfast. Halfway through I suddenly felt my heartbeat fasten and quickly asked "Touko when are your parents getting back?" She calmly finished her piece of cake and said "They shouldn't be back until 2 or 3 so don't worry. Besides you said you want to go somewhere today didn't you?". With my heartbeat returning back to normal, I think about what we could do. Then an idea struck me, something that couples do all the time.

I laid out the picnic rug as Touko placed down our sandwiches, the sun was out and was quite warm so we picked out a spot under a tree to get some shade. "This was a great idea Yuu". I blush with embarrassment "I guess reading all those romance manga I got some ideas for dates". Before we start eating, Touko gives me a quick kiss and says "I'm so glad I met you". While eating we were reminiscing on how different things could have been if I never joined the student council, and speaking of school, it brought up a topic which we both knew had to be discussed. "Touko, how are we going to act at school now, I mean the only two people who know we're dating is Saeki-senpai and Maki-kun." Touko thought it over for a second and replied "I guess we just act like we always do at school, we were always friends so people know that we're close and we always showed our affection privately, so nothing changes". Now came the next part of this conversation that we also knew had to be discussed. "Do we tell our parents that we're dating?" I'm already imagining my Mom scolding me and taking me out of school or my family thinking I'm weird for dating a girl. I look over at Touko who also seems to be having the same thoughts as me looks up and says "I think there is someone we can tell that will understand us and give us some advice on what to do". I turn my head is bewilderment as Touko takes out her phone, I thought she might be texting Saeki-senpai but I couldn't have been more wrong.

15 minutes had passed and I was trying to interrogate my girlfriend who she messaged and she wasn't giving anything away telling me "it was a surprise". The smile she had when saying that gave me goosebumps, who did she message? I'm starting to sweat thinking of all the possibilities and playing out every interaction in my head. Just as the pressure was starting to mount I heard a familiar voice behind me that made me jump. "Yuu, you look so tense what's wrong?" I turn around and see my older sister smiling, I didn't expect this and I immediately turned to Touko who nodded her head, this is who she wants to tell!

Rei sits down on the picnic rug and looks at both of us. "Nanami-chan you said you wanted to talk about something, can I take a guess at what that might be". Looking at my sister she doesn't seem mad or confused she almost seems to be smiling, could she be misinterpreting what Touko asked her here for? "You two are dating aren't you". I immediately turn my head away starting to feel flustered and my heart starts to race, I can't talk. I suddenly feel arms around me and they're not Touko's. I look up and my sister is comforting me, "Yuu, you don't need to be embarrassed, it doesn't matter to me if you're in love with Nanami-chan. I'm proud of you". I can feel tears welling up, as they start to drip, Touko hands me a tissue and smiles at me. After wiping my tears away, Rei moves back to her spot and looks at both of us. "Rei, do we tell Mom and Dad?". Rei looks at me not with the smile she had before and answers "Not right now I don't think so, Dad would be shocked but deep down he's a softie, however Mom is different. Especially since you stayed over at Nanami-chan's last night, I don't want to pry but if it was like me staying over with Hiro when I was younger I know what would've happened last night." Hearing that made both me and Touko go red. Rei smiled at both of us, "I think what you two should do is keep this a secret between us at the moment and down the line when the time is right you can tell Mom and Dad. Nanami-chan what do you think?" Touko nodded her head and said "I don't think telling my parents right now that I'm dating Yuu would be a good idea either, I don't know how my parents will react with me dating another girl. But I'm more worried that I let Yuu stay with me last night and I don't think they would let me see Yuu again". Rei smiles again at us and gets up. "Yuu I need to get going, I've got work soon, don't worry about our parents now just enjoy your time with Nanami-chan and worry about that day when it comes. The same goes to you Nanami-chan, just enjoy the time together". As my sister walks off I smile to myself relieved that she accepts my love for Touko. I turn to look at Touko who is smiling at me and says "I figured your sister must have known there was something going on between us earlier because she sent me a photo of you sleeping on the floor". "Wait... what!? When?" Touko starts laughing and shows me the photo, "When I asked for the cheesecake recipe, she must have known I liked you back then otherwise why would she send me that". I now start smiling to myself and say to Touko "I told you that you're the perve you have a photo of me sleeping without me knowing". Touko then stutters "I...I'm not perve! I thought it was cute so I kept it!" We both start laughing and go in for a kiss. "Your parents will be back soon won't they?" Touko looks at the time and gets up and stretches, "Yeah I guess we should pack up and go back so you can get your stuff".

On our way back to Touko's place we both held hands since it was a quiet day with no one around. Not a word was said we were both smiling happy to be in eachothers company and to have some stress alleviated off our shoulders.

After packing up my things at Touko's house, I go over to her and kiss her and tell her thankyou for the past 24 hours. It would be a day I would never forget and neither would Touko. After the kiss she cuddles into me and whispers "I love you". I respond immediately and whisper into her ear "I love you Touko, I'm looking forward to doing this again".

"I love you, see you at school tomorrow". Touko blows me a kiss and I turn around to walk home. The entire way I couldn't stop smiling. This is the happiest I have felt in my life.


	2. Caught Out

It's been two weeks since Touko and I admitted our relationship to my sister. Not much has changed in our lives since then, we still see eachother at school and work together in the student council. The only hard thing was to remember to call Touko a Senpai around others to avoid questioning. But due to Touko now being in the acting troupe and also keeping on top of her studies we haven't been able to go out on a date since the picnic lunch, which is both driving us crazy as we haven't even had a chance to hold hands due to students still lingering around the streets.

So we decided that this weekend we'd go to a museum together an hour out of town to get some alone time together. But little did we know that we weren't alone as we first thought.

"Okay Mom I'm going now!" I yelled from our store floor, I'm smiling so much it's starting to hurt my cheeks, luckily my mother couldn't see how excited I was. I ran out the front door and all the way to the station. On the way this excitement reminded me of how I felt running to the student council room the day Touko reciprocated my feelings of love. I'm almost there, I run up the stairs, my heart beating faster and faster, I turn the corner... and she's not here. "Guess I got to excited and got here early just like that day as well" I depressingly say too myself. But then I got the fright of my life when I felt a familiar warmth embrace me from behind, and a voice I love to hear whispered in my ear "Tricked you". I turn around and my eyes light up as the person standing in front of me is looking so beautiful today. She leans in for a kiss and it was filled with passion and love, it's so fulfilling for both of us as it's been so long for us to freely express our love for eachother. "It feels like it was our first kiss it's been that long" Touko laughs while still looking a little red in the face. Just as I was about to reply our train arrived, and Touko excitedly said "C'mon Yuu let's try and get a seat where it's not too crowded". I grab her outreached hand and allowed her to drag me to where she wanted to go with a big grin spread across my face.

As we got off the train and started making our way towards the museum, I noticed Touko's bag bulging a little. "Why is your bag so full" I ask with a chuckle. "Well I told you I wanted to go to this museum to get some more information for my history project so I sort of brought all my school stuff with me". She let out a little embarrassed laugh after saying that and I've come to conclusion that everything about her is cute. We both have a quick kiss and I grab her hand as we enter the museum.

Walking around the museum with Touko made me realise just how much she puts into her schoolwork, if I even showed half of her effort maybe I could top my class. There was one exhibit that Touko was really focusing on, but unlike the others, she wasn't writing anything. She was just staring, I came over and had a look at what she was so entranced by, when Touko noticed me she jumped as she didn't see me move next her... she must be really studying hard not to notice her surroundings. I look down and she was looking at an assortment of relic pieces found in Egypt, curiosity getting the better of me I ask "What are you focusing so hard on?". Touko starting to get red with embarrassment pointed at two Scarab Beetle rings and she said in a wavering voice "I... I was thinking about the day that we might be wearing rings together..." I think about what Touko just said and I start to feel blood rushing to my head and I only manage to reply "Isn't it too soon to be talking like that Touko". She immediately responds "I know, but I love Yuu and a ring symbolises eternal love and that's how I feel about Yuu". My heart starts beating faster and my impulse takes over and I kiss Touko. After the kiss I place my forehead on hers and say "Touko I will always love you, we don't need rings to show that, but I promise we'll wear rings one day". Touko now kisses me passionately, but our kiss is broken up by a familiar voice behind us

"Uhh what are you guys doing?".

We turn around and standing in front of us is Koyomi with her eyes and mouth wide open. My first reaction probably wasn't the best, "What... what are you doing here!". At this point my heart is beating so fast and loud that Koyomi who's standing 5 meters away could hear it. "I'm here to get some background information on my novel, but more importantly, what is going on with you two?" Me and Touko look at eachother and both blush and then look the other way and at the same time state "Nothing".

Koyomi leans in closer "Mmm it didn't look like nothing, are you dating?" I think to myself, so blunt and to the point but she doesn't seem shocked or freaked out by it. Due to the silence, Koyomi got her answer, but it's what she said after that really surprised me and Touko.


	3. Koyomi's Point of View

"Are you dating?"

_Why isn't she shocked when she asks us this question? Maybe it's just Koyomi's general attitude? No that can't be it, she was shocked when she found out her favourite author was a female. Does she not care? Has Maki-kun told people? Saeki-chan? No they wouldn't, what am I missing?_

With all these questions going on in my head I forgot that she had asked me a question and the lack of words coming out of mine and Touko's mouth pretty much gave her an answer to that question. I can't lie my way out of this, she saw us passionately kissing, but how do I tell her, I'm so shocked that someone actually caught us that I can't form words. All I can manage through gritted teeth and shallow breaths is the word "umm".

Before Touko and I had a chance to explain, Koyomi came a bit closer and looked at both of us and said "You know I don't care if you are. I already came to the conclusion that you two were more than friends when I was asking Yuu about the council play.

"Wa...wait what do you mean?"

"When I was asking you about what Nanami-senpai was like as a person, you wouldn't look at me when answering the question. Your face would go a bit red and you'd have a drop of sweat running down your forehead, so I knew you were hiding something from me. That's why I delved a little deeper and asked if you saw a cute side of Nanami-senpai, and your face went a deeper shade of red and more sweat formed. So I got a good idea about your feelings towards her".

"Was it really that obvious" I pouted. Koyomi had a sly grin come across her face and then she turned to Touko. Nanami-chan wasn't good at hiding her feelings either Yuu.

All Touko could reply with was "eh?"

Koyomi continued her side of how she saw Touko and I. "The sports festival was when I figured out that your feelings were mutual for eachother".

The mention of the sport festival made my heartbeat start missing beats as I remembered the events in the storeroom. _She couldn't have seen us kissing in the storeroom could she?_ I look at Touko and her red face told me she was thinking the same thing.

"In that relay race, Nanami-chan never cheered for anyone but you, Yuu. I started paying close attention to Nanami-chan since I was asked to write the script so I could come up with a character for her. What I had noticed was all she did was look at Yuu, even in that race when Yuu wasn't running her eyes never lingered. I figured out at that point that you two must have already been dating, but I was wrong. When it was Nanami-chan's turn to run I looked back at Yuu, she watched with the same eyes, but as she went to call out, Yuu stopped and stood there. If you were dating Yuu wouldn't hesitate, but because she did I realised that Yuu hadn't been honest with Nanami-chan or herself for that matter.

Everything Koyomi was saying was correct but how did she know what was going on inside my own head? Almost sensing what I was thinking Koyomi turned back to me and said "I've known you for a long time Yuu. I know you've never had romantic feelings for anyone so when I saw the look in your eyes that day I knew what you felt in your heart was love, but because you hesitated to call out, your mind wouldn't let you because you didn't want it to be love. I asked you after that race if you were okay and you lied and said you were so I planned a way for you to admit your feelings".

Hearing all this from Koyomi shocked both Touko and I and then something clicked in Touko's mind and she said "If what you say was true Kanou-san why did you make Sayaka my lover in the play and not Yuu?" Koyomi responded almost immediately as if she was expecting this question, "Yuu didn't want a main role so I had to make her a side character, but in the original script I made your character change her personality to suit that of your lover. I intentionally wrote a bad ending hoping Yuu would get jealous and want a bigger role in the play and want to change the ending. I wanted Yuu's character to be the one of forcing Nanami-chan's character into changing her way of thinking in the play in the same way I wanted Yuu to change her way of thinking towards Nanami-chan in real life. I used the play in order for Yuu to realise her feelings for herself and force herself to change for the better".

Koyomi let a big grin come over her face as she said this and I couldn't help but smile back at her as did Touko.

"I can't believe the girl who doesn't like cute things was the one who played cupid for us" I laugh. Koyomi shocked at what I said blushed a little and said "Its not that I thought you two were cute together, Yuu I consider you my best friend, I just wanted to see you happy and I tried to anything I could to see that."

I could feel tears welling up after hearing this from her, I run over and cuddle her and say "Thankyou for being my best friend". Touko also comes over and hugs both of us.

After our embrace Koyomi with a troubled look asks "So you obviously don't want people to find out about you right?" Touko and I both nod. "I have no problem keeping this a secret, but I really don't think people at school will care if you're dating but that's your choice so I'll respect it".

"Thankyou so much Koy..." Koyomi then abruptly interrupted "On one condition". A sly smile then emerged with her eyes shining bright "If I ever publish a novel, I want your bookstore to make it a big deal. The more eyes that read it the more successful I can be".

With a nervous laugh I managed to put on a smile and say "sure".

After our conversation with Koyomi, Touko and I continued to walk around the museum hand in hand happy that someone else supports us dating.

* * *

NEXT STOP TOHMI

Touko and I look at eachother sad that our date has now ended. "Thankyou for seeing me when you're so busy Touko, I had so much fun". Touko comes in and kisses me, "No thankyou for coming Yuu, umm, my parents will be away for another night again soon, so maybe you can come over again?" I blush at the thought of another night with Touko but I excitedly say "Of course! I look forward to it!"

As the train door opens I kiss Touko one more time not wanting to leave. "I love you so much Touko". Touko kisses me again "I love you too Yuu, more than anything ". I step off the train and the door shuts, I smile and wave to Touko as she does the same and then she departs with a bit of my soul going with her. But the memory of today brought back my smile I had at the start of the day and walking back home with a spring in my step I start looking forward to another night with Touko.


End file.
